He had a kind of
exultation at the very fierceness of her love for him, of what she had
done to prove her love: her fury at Vanne Castine, the slaughter of the
bear, and the intention to kill Vanne himself; and he knew that she would
do more than that, if a great test came. Men feel surer of women than
women feel of men.
He sat down on the broad window-ledge, still sipping his whiskey and
milk, as he looked at her. She was very good to see. Presently she had
to cross a little plot of grass. The dew was still on it. She gathered
up her skirts and tip-toed quickly across it. The action was attractive
enough, for she had a lithe smoothness of motion. Suddenly he uttered an
exclamation of surprise.
"White stockings--humph!" he said.
Somehow those white stockings suggested the ironical comment of the world
upon his proposed mesalliance; then he laughed good-humouredly.
"Taste is all a matter of habit, anyhow," said he to himself. "My own
sister wouldn't have had any better taste if she hadn't been taught. And
what am I?
"What am I? I drink more whiskey in a day than any three men in the
country. I don't do a stroke of work; I've got debts all over the world;
I've mulcted all my friends; I've made fools of two or three women in my
time; I've broken every commandment except--well, I guess I've broken
every one, if it comes to that, in spirit, anyhow.
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